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[woolley11]

We've bought a new BMW 118D sport for the wife last month.

Puzzling me is the fuel economy as not only being much lower than advertised, which I knew it would be due to manufacturers take on it, but I wondered if the start/stop function worsens things.

I appreciate it is better for CO2 emissions but in my younger days it was always regarded that starting snd stopping the engine wastes fuel?

If this is the case, should we disable the start/stop function?

[btc]

I have start/stop on my seat and having ran it with the start/stop disabled and enabled I saw no noticeable difference in economy 

[Crazycarzowner]

Start /Stop on my 2.0 Skoda Superb annoying as it is hasn't had any notable difference in fuel economy, just done a round trip of 372 miles on 1/2 a tank, roughly 67mpg 

[Mr Gav]

Tiff Needell did at test on 5th gear in Renault Megane and got about 10 mpg more with it enabled but if you`ve got all the toys on the the engine kicks in when there`s not enough juice in the battery to keep everything going.

[STEMO]

I can't for the life of me see how it doesn't kill the starter after a while.

[Crazycarzowner]

I can't for the life of me see how it doesn't kill the starter after a while.

My thoughts exactly STEMO. I can actually turn the stop / start thingy off on my car, but as soon as you stop the engine with the key and start a new journey the damn thing defaults to stop / start mode again.

[Kevin Wood]

I can't for the life of me see how it doesn't kill the starter after a while.

.. or the battery, for that matter, and batteries aren't great things to be throwing away regularly.

As with most emissions tweaks, it makes the car look better in a regulatory test, and is nothing but a PITA on the road.

[Nick W]

I can't for the life of me see how it doesn't kill the starter after a while.

Of course it does. But it's several years of high-mileage use away, and the manufacturers know that they can put it down to normal wear and tear.

[Sir Tigger KC]

Tiff Needell did at test on 5th gear in Renault Megane and got about 10 mpg more with it enabled but if you`ve got all the toys on the the engine kicks in when there`s not enough juice in the battery to keep everything going.

When I was over at my mates in Houston in the summer and driving his Range Rover Sport, the engine stopped as soon as you pulled up, but quickly started up again to get the AC going as the temperature quickly rose in the cabin as it was so damn hot outside. 

[ronnyd]

I,m sure i read somewhere that in certain countries, Switzerland for one, that it is a legal requirement for the engine to stop at traffic lights, level crossings etc. As STEMO asks, must wear out the starter much quicker.

[Andy B]

I believe some stop/start cars spin the engine over using the alternator once it's all up to temp ...... 

[STEMO]

No good for getting away from the lights, either.

[minifreek]

I have been told that when the engine stops it is stopped in a state that all it takes is a spark on the relevant 2 cylinders to get it to go again, thus not wearing out/using the starter motor....

[Broomies Mate]

Start/Stop tech uses a different type of battery which is more akin to a leisure battery than a CCA/heavy battery. They are bloody expensive though.

As mentioned above, the starter is practically redundant once the engine is at running temperature.

I've never owned a car with Start/Stop, but every hire car has it.... it gets on my tits.  Car stalls, it's broken.  Suppose many years of Omega Ownership has taught me that! 

[TheBoy]

The biggest downside, and I'm sure we've all noticed it, is we only get 1 or 2 cars through each cycle of the traffic lights now 

Another bloody retarded idea by those who should be shot to prevent further degradation of the gene pool.